ISBN 9789351501213

ISBN-10

9351501213

Binding

Hardback

Number of Pages

372 Pages

Language

(English)

Subject

Cinema & Broadcast

This book documents the history of Tamil cinema, one of the most colossal film industries in the world and studies the major studios of Madras, the largest outside classical Hollywood in the private sector. It engages with five major studios of MadrasModern Theatres, AVM, Gemini, Vijaya - Vauhini and Prasad through the origins of their founders and explicates how their history influenced the narratives, genre and ideology of the canonical films made in Madras studios, arguing for their lasting influence on Tamil cinema. Based on rare primary and secondary materials and oral history, this book engages with Tamil cinema at the intersection of its industrial, cultural and socio - political history to argue for its specificity in terms of its aesthetics and its belief in the potential of the medium to mobilize audiences for ideology, politics and reflexivity. Table of contents :- Preface Introduction A Multiplicity of Influence: Modern Theatres and Its Films The AVM and the Gemini Studios: The Dravidian Movement and the Competing Narratives Vijaya - Vauhini and Prasad: The Other Narratives Traces of the Studio System: A Certain Tendency of the Tamil Cinema Dravidian Utopia and Dystopia: Canonical and Contemporary Tamil Cinema Bibliography Filmography Index